About Josh Lewis

My name is Josh Lewis. I'm an adventure enthusiast who lives in the Pacific Northwest. I am very passionate about the outdoors, mountain climbing, photography, posting my stories, and web development. I hope this site gives you a taste of my works.

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Latest Adventures

“If you ride like lightning, you’re gonna crash like thunder” - The Place Beyond the Pines
After waking up from a nightmare I slowly came into a reality that was far worse than what I had just experienced. “Did I get hit by a rock?” I asked several times and kept forgetting each time I asked. For the life of me I had no idea what country I was in or what I was doing. Incredible dizziness and much disorientation made it difficult to stand up. I was covered in blood and knew I was in a serious survival situation. I tried not to panic and did everything I could to make it out. “I don't know if I'm going to make it” I screamed in my mind as I felt like fainting while feeling very fatigued. Never have I had a descent as scary as...

After my Burgundy Spire Accident I had to give up mountaineering for a while. When I finally recovered enough to hike, a small run would be enough to re-injure my knee once more forcing me to be very careful with getting back in shape. With rare winter conditions it was painful to watch as many sunny days went by. I knew that if I wanted a shot at a spectacular climb I would have to wait until the perfect opportunity.
Michael and I contacted some buddies of mine, before long we had a solid team of climbers for Whitehorse Mountain. I have been wanting to climb this mountain for many years. Gimpilator has had too many canceled trips up this peak. We were all very eager to climb this mountain. With 7,000 feet of elevation gain during January and being out of shape, this would be a big...

Inspiration for the Climb
"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings." - William Shakespear
"Man propose, nature dispose" - Gary Paulsen
After climbing for four days in a row I came home feeling exhausted and dehydrated. Matt Lemke calls me by saying "want to climb Sloan Peak via the rock route". It was a tempting offer, but I declined due to being fatigued. Then Shortly afterwards I was offered a trip so ridiculous that I couldn't refuse. Burgundy Spire via the North Face. Some say Burgundy Spire ranks as #10 on Washington's hardest peaks. Before climbing it I knew that I would be climbing at the edge of my limit and that with how I felt this would be a big under taking. I had prusiks just in...

Matt Lemke and I did this trip as a spur of the moment. Originally we planned on climbing Sherpa Peak via the North Ridge. Matt however did not want to have to hike once again along the Colchuck Lake trail and wasn't feeling in the mood for climbing Sherpa. So we settled for climbing Little Annapurna via the south face which is a 5.6 (or 5.5) rock climb. So both the trip and the destination came unexpectedly along with some other surprises along the way. This trip had a long approach, brushy terrain, class 4 scrambling, loose rocks, rock climbing, and boulder hopping in the evening. This was the beginning of one of the most epic weeks of the year.
Alpenglow from Sultan
Alpenglow in the Sky
I start running...

Boston Basin Trailhead View
"I have learned, that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours." - Henry David Thoreau
The Torment Forbidden Traverse is the most extensive rock climbing route I've done to date. While not very technically inclined, it consists of a large quantity of class 4 and low 5th climbing and of course some mid 5th moves. It is said that every mountaineering skill you've learned will be used on this route. Both Mark and I agreed with this statement. From traversing talus, steep trails, glacier travel, rock climbing, loose rock scrambles, steep ledge traversing, down climbing, snow climbing, rappels, wet slabs, snow...

"You can take the man out of the woods, but you can't take the woods out of the man" -Gary Paulsen
This was the most exciting adventure of the year. I had been wanting to do the Ptarmigan Traverse for a very long time. From having an attempt on this route and climbing Dome Peak the previous year I knew both ends of the traverse quite well. But hidden within a fortress of mountains lied a handful of surprises. The traverse included miles of glacier travel, white out conditions, steep snow climbing, rappelling off a cornice, navigation, and one of the worst bush whacks I have ever done. By the end of the adventure my feet were the most shredded they ever have been in my entire life! I'm still taking antibiotics and taking it easy.
The trip began when Eric Darsow...